El Goonish Shive

El Goonish Shive (EGS) is a webcomic by Daniel Elliot Shive, dealing with the adventures of a group of teenagers whose lives seem to either parody or embody various tropes from anime, comics, TV, and games.  I like it a lot.

*New stuff, 30 September

Unresolved Questions

One reason I like it is that Shive does complicated plots.  I'm a person who loves trying to follow complex plots, and maybe outguess the author.  Dan's a worthy opponent (in the nicest sense possible.)  He's clearly got a lot more of the plot and background worked out than he has shared in the strip yet.  Here are two things that were raised in the comic, and never resolved or dealt with.

And remember, I'm not criticizing.  I like the fact that not everything has been revealed.  I just kind of wish Dan could cover more than one week of the characters' lives every two years of real time ....
  1. What is Elliot's "full power" and why specifically is he unwilling to use it?  On the same subject: Ellen presumably has the same ability.  Is she as reluctant as he is to make use of it?
  2. We've been told that Susan is a sorceress, but she never seems to do any magic, and had to call Nanase to fight the Omega Goo.  What magical powers does she have, exactly?  (Okay, once she magically manifests a sword, but that can't be the whole thing.)
I welcome suggestions from fellow EGS fans, if I've missed any big unresolved things.  I also welcome your pointing me to places where any questions I mention here are answered in the strip.  Note, however, that I mean just that: answered in the strip.  Your guesses are not answers.  (I have guesses myself.)  Even things Dan told you at a con don't count—I'm only counting information that's actually available in the comic strip.

Questions and Insights I've Had

Like I wrote above, I have my own guesses about EGS.  Here's a sample:

  1. Isn't it obvious that Nanase and her parents (or at least one parent) are fox spirits?  Japanese humans don't use the name "Kitsune" (which means "fox"), and how many Japanese girls have bright red hair?  It seemingly isn't a dye job, because her cousin Tedd asks "Did she have red hair?" and apparently he hasn't seen her for years.  It's even possible that Mrs. Kitsune is being so overcontrolling because she knows that Nanase has the fox nature.  I speculate that Mr. Verres is probably well aware of  what's up, since his agency would be called in to hide any kitsune in the USA (and it would explain how he met his ex-wife, Tedd's mother).  Did Mrs. Verres run off because she started showing signs of vulpinity?
  2. On a related subject, how many people realized that Tedd is half-Japanese?  He's Nanase's cousin, and Mr. Verres refers to her mother as his sister-in-law, so Tedd's mom is Nanase's (Japanese) aunt.  It's mentioned in the Wikipedia entry, interestingly, but not in the strip that I've seen.  (Dan apparently believes that the art makes it clear, but he draws everyone's eyes so big and is otherwise so cartoony that it actually isn't.)
  3. This is presented as Tedd's first time using the female "Variant #1", but later his dad says that he spends lots of time female .  Did he have a "Variant #0" or something, or did Dan just change his mind about the background?
  4. Mr. Verres always wears rectangular glasses.  Tedd got his special gigantic round-lens glasses from his dad.  I doubt very much Mr. Verres would have given up eyewear that gave him all of Superman's vision powers unless he had a replacement.  Thus, I deduce that Mr. Verres' glasses have the same capabilities as his son's, or more. Note that beta-Tedd also wears rectangular glasses, presumably for the same reason "our" Tedd does.

Stupid Trivial Things I Noticed

  1. Did you notice that stereotypical German scientist Dr. Germahn (with his name misspelled) is a character in the movie Elliot, Sarah and Tedd see just before Grace appears?
  2. Sarah first wears her beret when Elliot induces an ego-fit and she become Fashion Girl to advise Grace on clothes.  And five years later, it reappears when she's trying to make her school uniform more fashionable. Good continuity, Dan.

Storylines or Story Elements That Haven't Been Mentioned In A Long Time

  1. Matt and Rat, last seen admiring Ellen's bod.  In 2002.
  2. Lord Tedd, last seen in 2003.  Where did he go, and why does the apparently-benevolent Nioi work for him when he's so visibly evil, anyway?  Dan's decision to do more soap opera and less action drama seems to have knocked him right out of the strip.
  3. Grace's telekinetic powers, last used against the Omega Goo.  In 2002.